Efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine combined with warm acupuncture on diabetic foot and its effect on inflammatory status

Abstract

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) combined with warm acupuncture in the treatment of diabetic foot patients and its effect on inflammatory status, with a view to providing a reference for clinical treatment of diabetic foot. Methods: 136 diabetic foot patients admitted to our hospital from Mar. 2018 to Mar. 2020 were selected and divided into the observation group and control group according to the random number table method, with 68 cases in each group. Patients in the control group were given conventional treatment and foot debridement, and the observation group was given TCM decoction and warm acupuncture treatment on the basis of the control group. The clinical efficacy, clinical symptoms before and after treatment, foot condition, serum index and safety of treatment were compared between the two groups. Results: The total effective rate in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the clinical symptoms in the observation group were significantly better than those in the control group (P<0.05). The blood flow velocity, motor nerve conduction velocity and sensory nerve conduction velocity in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group; and the serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group, and the level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05); there were 57 patients with safety grade 1 and 11 patients with grade 2 in the observation group and 55 patients with safety grade 1 and 13 patients with grade 2 in the control group, but there was no significant difference in safety grade between the two groups (Z=-0.448，P=0.654). Conclusion: The combination of TCM and warm acupuncture can effectively improve the clinical symptoms of patients with diabetic foot, promote foot wound healing, relieve disease progression, and have a safe and reliable efficacy.